In the ancient practice of the martial arts, a number of weapons can be used, including the standard martial arts staff (both the Bo staff and the Jo staff), the Nunchaku, the San Setsu Kon or three-sectional staff, the Tonfa and the Escrima. Each of these weapons typically is used in martial arts exercises, competition and demonstrations. In addition, these weapons have been adapted for entertainment use. To develop a proficiency in using these weapons, countless hours of practice is required with each weapon. As the cost of these weapons can be expensive and as these weapons can be heavy, the purchase, storage and transport of the several weapons can be difficult to the average practitioner. As the interest in viewing martial arts demonstrations has grown, so too has the need for providing an entertainment aspect to the demonstrations, making the demonstrations more exciting visually for both the practitioner and the spectator.
The concept of developing a martial arts weapon having interchangeable components is known in the art. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,682,774 to Holy, issued Jul. 28, 1987, a collapsible, re-combinative martial arts weapon is disclosed which can be re-combined into several martial arts weapons. However, Holy's weapon is deficient in the kinds of weapons which can be constructed and is limited to assembling one weapon at a time. In addition, Holy does not provide the weapon with any kind of feature to enhance its entertainment value. Another combination martial arts weapon is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,132,408 to Sabat, issued Jan. 2, 1979, the weapon being a combination riot or night stick (e.g. a staff) and a nunchaku.
A lighted nunchaku is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,547,190 to Mackewich, Jr. et al., issued Aug. 20, 1996, the light source being an ordinary light bulb or a chemically activated light. However, Mackewich, Jr. et al. does not provide for the assembly of multiple martial arts weapons having the light source, but rather only contemplates a lighted nunchaku. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,070,023 to Cutler, a nunchaku is disclosed which comprises two perforated hollow metal tube weapons connected by a rope. The perforations provide a whistling sound when one metal tube is held and the other tube is whipped through the air. The whistling sound is the only feature of the Cutler weapon which could be considered an entertainment enhancement.
A need still exists to provide a martial arts weapons system having a plurality of interchangeable components for constructing multiple martial arts weapons. Such a system should provide for assembly of each martial art weapon in a quick and simple manner. In addition, such a martial arts weapons system should provide an interchangeable component which not only is used to assembly the weapon but also provides a fun and exciting entertainment feature. Further, such as martial arts weapons system should be inexpensive to manufacture and should be easy to store and transport.